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“Australia is one of the few countries where we can actually eliminate hepatitis C as a public health threat.”
Three months after starting medication to treat hepatitis C Frank Carlus was cured of the disease that claimed his mother’s life.
He describes the cure as a godsend, but for his mother the stigma associated with a disease often linked to risky lifestyles was a barrier to her seeking treatment.
Hepatitis C can cause liver cancer, cirrhosis and death and while cures are available there’s been a rapid decline in the number of Australians taking up treatment.
“It’s important that people are able to access treatment without fear of being stigmatised, without fear of being discriminated against,” Mr Carlus said, promoting a national partnership aimed at eliminating the disease by 2030.
Hepatitis C medications are subsidised by the government until 2021, but 170,000 eligible Australians have not yet begun treatment.
Read more…http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/aap/article-6085919/Drop-Aussies-seeking-hepatitis-C-cure.html